1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shift lever device for shifting the transmission of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a shift lever device for shifting the automatic transmission of a vehicle has a structure in which the automatic transmission is shifted by shifting a shift lever in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. In this type of shift lever device, the operating direction of the shift lever is the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. For example, when the shift lever is selected to be in a P shift range, the shift lever can be shifted to be in an R shift range by simply moving the shift lever in the rearward direction of the vehicle.
It should be noted that this type of shift lever device requires a shift lock mechanism which enables the shifting operation of the shift lever only under a specific condition, and the aforementioned shifting operation from the P shift range to the R shift range must be restricted to a certain method.
In this case, for example, a shift lever device has been proposed in which an electric type actuator such as a solenoid or the like or a shift controller is provided in the vicinity of the shift lever and, when the shift lever is operated from a P shift range to an R shift range, the actuator engages with the shift lever and the shifting operation to the R shift range is prevented unless a braking operation is effected.
In this type of shift lever device (shift lock mechanism), in a state in which the shift lever is disposed in the P shift range, a lock plate fixed by the electric type actuator engages with a grooved pin such that the movement thereof (the operation of a knob button) is prevented and that the shifting operation of the shift lever to a shift range other than the P shift range is prevented.
It should be noted that, in the conventional method, even if electricity does not flow to the solenoid due to electrical failure such as a dead battery or the like, the shift lever can be shifted when the key is turned on. However, when the lock plate does not rotate due to some kind of trouble, there is no way to release a shift lock forcibly.